CN115773369A

CN115773369A - Vehicle shift operation device

Info

Publication number: CN115773369A
Application number: CN202211086802.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 勇阳一郎; 天野浩之; 大岛享之; 高野诚; 塚田悠太; 早水京介; 小寺广明
Original assignee: Toyota Motor Corp
Current assignee: Toyota Motor Corp
Priority date: 2021-09-07
Filing date: 2022-09-07
Publication date: 2023-03-10
Also published as: US20230072063A1; JP7497704B2; EP4145021A2; EP4145021A3; JP2023038468A; EP4224038A2; US11906040B2

Abstract

The invention provides a shift operation device for a vehicle. Provided is a vehicle gear shift operation device which facilitates confirmation of a gear shift position and has excellent mountability. The shift control device is configured to be capable of selecting a 1st shift mode and a 2nd shift mode, and comprises a restriction mechanism that restricts entry of an operation lever from an option path to any shift path among a plurality of shift paths and a shift position corresponding to the any shift path when the 1st shift mode is selected, and releases the restriction when the 2nd shift mode is selected, and a display (10) that selectively displays a 1st display and a 2nd display according to the selected 1st shift mode and the 2nd shift mode, wherein a 1st display graph (32) displays a movable position or path of the operation lever when the restriction is released by the restriction mechanism, and a 2nd display graph (34) displays a movable position or path of the operation lever when the restriction is released by the restriction mechanism.

Description

Vehicle shift operation device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a shift operation device that can be used in a plurality of shift modes in a vehicle.

Background

Patent document 1 describes a shift operation device configured to perform a selection operation of a travel range (range) in an automatic shift mode in which a speed ratio is automatically set according to a traveling state of a vehicle and a shift operation in a manual shift mode in which the speed ratio is switched by a manual operation. In this shift operation device, as an operation path for moving a shift lever to select a gear stage or a gear position, a shift path for automatic transmission and a shift path for manual transmission are provided in parallel and adjacent to each other, and a shift path for coupling these shift paths is also provided. Therefore, by moving the shift lever inside the shift path for automatic shifting to select a drive range such as a drive (D) range and a reverse (R) range, it is possible to automatically generate shifting in accordance with the driving state of the vehicle. Further, the gear ratio can be switched to a gear ratio at a predetermined gear position by moving the shift lever in a shift path for manual shifting and moving the shift lever to the ascending side or the descending side in the shift path. That is, the gear shift can be manually performed, and the driving force according to the intention of the driver can be obtained.

Further, patent document 2 describes a shift lever device configured to be usable in both a right-hand drive vehicle and a left-hand drive vehicle. In this shift lever device, the direction (vehicle width direction) in which the shift lever is inclined with respect to the shift direction (vehicle front-rear direction) is reversed between the right-hand-drive vehicle and the left-hand-drive vehicle, and therefore, the manual switch and the housing provided with the engaging portion that operates in contact with the manual switch are both installed in the reversed left-hand direction and the reversed right-hand-drive vehicle. Therefore, the shift lever device described in patent document 2 can be mounted on either of the right-hand drive vehicle and the left-hand drive vehicle by changing the mounting position or posture thereof without particularly replacing parts, and the parts can be shared.

Further, patent document 3 describes a shift lever device configured to switch between an automatic shift mode and a manual shift mode by tilting a shift lever to the right or left. The shift lever device is configured to switch a shift or a gear position by operating the shift lever in the front-rear direction in each of a state in which the shift lever is erected and a state in which the shift lever is tilted to the right or left. Therefore, the device disclosed in patent document 3 is a device in which two shift paths are provided in parallel and adjacent to each other, as in the device disclosed in patent document 1.

On the other hand, conventionally, there is known a vehicle which does not include a transmission and a clutch mechanism and includes a shifting device for simulating a manual shift. That is, patent document 4 describes an electric vehicle that does not have a clutch mechanism vehicle because a driving force source is a motor, and is configured to simulate behavior or a change in torque at the time of manual shifting. The electric vehicle includes a shift device for selecting a gear position (gear ratio) by a shift lever, similar to a vehicle (so-called MT vehicle) including a manual transmission, and therefore the shift device includes a function of selecting a travel position during so-called EV travel, which is original travel of the electric vehicle, and a function of selecting a plurality of gear positions in a so-called manual shift mode.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese laid-open patent publication No. 10-67249

Patent document 2: japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2008-6957

Patent document 3: japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2008-6958

Patent document 4: japanese patent No. 6787507

Disclosure of Invention

According to the device described in patent document 1, since two shift paths are provided and the travel stage and the gear stage are selected by moving the shift lever through these shift paths, the travel stage and the gear stage selected or set can be recognized by visually checking the position of the shift lever. However, since the shift paths for automatic transmission are limited to two shift stages, i.e., an upshift stage for instructing an upshift and a downshift stage for instructing a downshift, the shift paths cannot be arbitrarily switched to a shift stage that is separated by two or more stages.

In addition, in the configuration described in patent document 1, two shift paths for automatic transmission and manual transmission need to be provided, and there is room for improvement in terms of simplification, downsizing, space saving, and the like. For example, as described in patent document 4, in an electric vehicle without a clutch mechanism, in a vehicle configured to reproduce a torque change or behavior at the time of a shift in a manual shift vehicle by controlling a torque of a motor, it is necessary to prepare a plurality of (for example, 6-step) shift positions in a shift device in order to simulate a manual shift. In such a shifting device for a vehicle, since a shift position for selecting an original shift position is also required, if a shift position or a shift path for such manual shift and shift position selection is provided, the structure becomes complicated and large-sized in accordance with the amount of the structure such as the shift path for additional manual shift.

On the other hand, the shift lever device described in patent document 2 can share parts in the case of being configured for a right-hand drive vehicle and in the case of being configured for a left-hand drive vehicle. However, the shift lever device described in patent document 2 has a structure that enables sharing of parts when the direction in which the shift lever is inclined varies from side to side with the difference in position with respect to the steering wheel (steering wheel), and it is necessary to make the shift direction for selecting a travel range or a gear position the same as a precondition. In other words, the structure of the shift lever device described in patent document 2 cannot be applied to a plurality of types of devices having shift paths as described in patent document 1.

Further, the device described in patent document 3 has the same problem as that of patent document 1 because two shift paths are provided in parallel and adjacent to each other, as in the device described in patent document 1.

As described above, since the conventional shifting apparatus configured to be usable in the so-called automatic shift mode and the manual shift mode is configured to have both the shift paths and the shift stages for the automatic shift and the shift paths and the shift stages for the manual shift, it is possible to recognize whether the current shift mode is the automatic shift mode or the manual shift mode and the selected stage or the shift stage by visually observing the position of the shift lever. In other words, it has not been sufficient to ensure both the ease of identifying the gear position or the shift position by the driver and the improvement in mountability such as simplification of the structure and downsizing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle shift operation device that is easy to confirm a shift position and has excellent mountability.

In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle shift operation device according to the present invention includes: an initial gear; a plurality of shift stages; an operating lever movable to the initial gear position and the shift gear position; a shift path that is provided corresponding to a plurality of the shift stages and guides the operating lever to the shift stages; and at least one option road that reaches each of the shift roads from the initial gear position and guides the operation lever to the shift road, wherein the vehicle is configured to be able to select a 1st shift mode and a 2nd shift mode that are different from each other in terms of control of driving force for traveling, the shift operation device of the vehicle includes a restriction mechanism that restricts entry of the operation lever from the option road to any of the plurality of shift roads and the shift position corresponding to the any shift road when the 1st shift mode is selected, and releases the restriction when the 2nd shift mode is selected, and further includes a display that selectively displays a 1st display and a 2nd display in accordance with the 1st shift mode and the 2nd shift mode selected, the 1st display graphically displaying the initial gear position of the operation lever and the option road where the shift lever is able to move and the shift position and the option road where the restriction is performed by the restriction mechanism when the 1st shift mode and the 2nd shift mode are selected, the 1st display graphically displaying the initial gear position of the operation lever and the option road and the shift road where the shift lever is able to move and the shift lever is released from the restriction by the restriction mechanism, and the shift operation lever and the option road that are displayed graphically displaying the initial gear position and the shift path that are able to be released by the restriction when the shift mode.

In the present invention, the selection path, the shift path, the initial gear, and the shift speed that can move the operation lever in the 1st shift mode may be a selection path that can move the operation lever in the 2nd shift mode and a part of the selection path, the shift path, the initial gear, and the shift speed.

In the present invention, the display may have a mode display function of displaying the selected 1st shift mode or 2nd shift mode.

In the present invention, the mode display function may be any one of a function of displaying the selected shift mode in characters, a function of changing a background color of the graphic to a color corresponding to the selected shift mode, and a function of changing a background pattern of the graphic to a pattern corresponding to the selected shift mode.

In the present invention, the display may have a function of highlighting the gear position selected by moving the operating lever on the graphic.

In the present invention, the display may include a character indicating the shift position, and the highlighted function may be a function of displaying the character indicating the shift position selected by moving the operation lever, separately from other characters.

In the present invention, the 2nd shift mode may be configured such that a plurality of shift stages for forward travel can be selected, and the display may include a shift prompting function that prompts switching of the shift stages in accordance with a change in a traveling state of the vehicle when the 2nd shift mode is selected.

In the present invention, the shift notification function may be any of lighting of a predetermined notification display, a background color or a background pattern of the graphic, or flickering of a display indicating the shift position to be selected.

In the present invention, the vehicle may be configured such that, in a state where the 2nd shift mode is selected, a 1st running mode in which a predetermined upshift is determined with a predetermined vehicle speed and a 2nd running mode in which the upshift is determined with a vehicle speed higher than the predetermined vehicle speed can be selected, and the shift operation device of the vehicle may be configured such that the timing of the blinking of the display is different between a case where the 1st running mode is selected and a case where the 2nd running mode is selected.

According to the present invention, the operating lever for selecting a gear position by manual operation is guided from an initial gear position to each gear position through the selection path and the shift path connected thereto. When the 1st shift mode is selected, the control lever is restricted from entering any shift path by the restricting mechanism even if the control lever is moved to any shift position. In contrast, when the 2nd shift mode is selected, the restriction is released by the restriction mechanism, and the operation lever can be moved to each shift position. That is, the select path and the shift path in the 1st shift mode and the respective gear positions are portions of the select path and the shift path and the respective gear positions when the operating lever is shifted in the 2nd shift mode, and these select path, the shift path, and the respective gear positions are shared by the 1st shift mode and the 2nd shift mode. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to select at least two shift modes, and it is possible to simplify or reduce the size of the entire structure of the shift operation device that performs a shift operation by moving one operation lever in each shift mode, thereby improving the vehicle mountability.

Therefore, in the shift operation device of the present invention, the contents of the shift control executed by the movement range and the position (i.e., the gear position) selected by the movement of the operation lever are different between the 1st shift mode and the 2nd shift mode, but since the shift route or the select route and the gear position in the 1st shift mode are graphically displayed on the display by a line diagram or the like, and the shift route or the select route and the gear position in the 2nd shift mode are similarly graphically displayed on the display by a line diagram or the like, the position of the operation lever and the selected gear position can be easily confirmed or recognized by visual observation.

Further, in the present invention, when the display device has a mode display function, the selected shift mode or the currently executed shift mode can be easily recognized by visual observation.

In addition, the operating lever may be configured to be held in the selected shift position or returned to the initial shift position to be on standby, and in either configuration, the operating lever may have a function of highlighting the shift position on the graph, so that the driver can easily recognize the selected shift position.

Further, since the selection of the shift range in the 2nd travel mode is performed in order to set a gear ratio or a gear position suitable for traveling, it is preferable to switch the shift range in order to set another gear ratio or gear position when the traveling state changes, and by providing a shift prompting function for prompting such switching, traveling with high energy efficiency or without an excessive shortage of driving force can be performed while assisting the driver's shift operation.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an example of a vehicle in the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a shifting device in an exploded manner with a part thereof omitted.

Fig. 3 is a partially cut-away schematic view showing an example of the support portion thereof.

Fig. 4 is a partial diagram showing an example of a structure for generating a stop function.

Fig. 5 is a display screen diagram showing an example of contents displayed on the display, (a) shows an example of contents displayed in the automatic shift mode, and (B) shows an example of contents displayed in the manual shift mode.

(symbol description)

1: a vehicle; 2: a driving force source; 3: a speed change unit; 4: a final speed reducer; 5: a drive wheel; 6: a controller; 7: a mode changeover switch; 8: a parking switch; 9: a shifting device; 10: a display; 11: a shift lever; 12: a support portion; 13: a support body; 14: a bracket; 15: a through hole; 16: a balancing mechanism; 17: a decorative plate; 18: a handle; 19: a rubber sleeve; 20: a guide plate; 21. 24: selecting a way; 22. 25: a shift path; 23: a guide plate; 26: a support plate; 27: a guide hole; 28: a pin; 29: an actuator; 30: a gear detector; 31: a protrusion; 32. 34: a graph; 33. 35: and (4) background.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings, but the embodiments described below are merely examples of embodying the present invention and do not limit the present invention.

First, a vehicle 1 to which the embodiment of the present invention is directed will be described, and fig. 1 schematically shows the vehicle 1, and the vehicle is configured such that a transmission unit 3 is connected to an output side of a drive force source 2, and drive force output from the transmission unit 3 is transmitted to left and right drive wheels 5 via a final drive 4. In short, the driving force source 2 may be a power machine capable of outputting driving force for traveling of the vehicle 1, or may be an internal combustion engine, a motor, or a power plant using both of them. The transmission unit 3 is a mechanism that increases or decreases the torque input from the drive force source 2 to output the torque, or that interrupts the transmission of the torque and further reverses the direction of action (rotational direction) of the torque to output the torque, and in the example shown in fig. 1, has a so-called continuously variable transmission function that continuously changes the gear ratio in accordance with the traveling state of the vehicle 1 such as the required drive force such as the vehicle speed and the accelerator pedal position, and is further configured to be able to function as a virtual stepped transmission that can switch the gear ratio stepwise (step-by-step). Examples of such a drive device include a belt type continuously variable transmission, and a hybrid drive device provided with a planetary gear mechanism type power split mechanism in which an engine and a motor are coupled.

The transmission unit 3 is configured to be capable of setting an automatic transmission mode in which a transmission is automatically executed according to a running state of the vehicle 1 and a manual transmission mode in which a transmission ratio is stepwise switched to a predetermined transmission ratio (gear position) according to a shift operation manually operated by a driver (not shown), and is configured to electrically control switching of the transmission modes and the transmission. In the case of a belt type continuously variable transmission, the winding radius of the belt with respect to the pulleys is changed according to the traveling state of the vehicle 1, and the transmission ratio is changed to a transmission ratio that improves fuel efficiency or energy efficiency. In addition, in the case of a hybrid vehicle, the engine speed is controlled by the motor so that the engine speed is on the optimum fuel efficiency line.

A controller 6 for performing such control is provided. The controller 6 is an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) for a transmission, which is mainly composed of a microcomputer, performs an operation using signals (data) input from various sensors, switches, and the like and data stored in advance, outputs the operation result as a control command signal to the transmission unit 3, and sets the transmission unit to an appropriate gear ratio or a neutral state in which no torque is transmitted.

Therefore, data indicating the running state of the vehicle 1, such as the vehicle speed and the accelerator opening, is input to the controller 6, and in addition, a signal from a mode switching switch 7 that switches between an automatic shift mode and a manual shift mode, a signal from a parking switch 8 that stops the vehicle 1 in a parking state, a signal from a shifter 9, and the like are input. The controller 6 is configured to output a control command signal to the transmission unit 3 and also output a display signal to the display 10 that displays the selected shift range, shift position, and the like.

Fig. 2 schematically shows an example of the above-described shifting device 9 in the embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a schematic exploded perspective view of the shift device 9, and a so-called operating lever (hereinafter, simply referred to as a shift lever) 11 such as a shift lever or a shift lever manually operated by a driver is provided, and the shift lever 11 is supported by a support portion 12 whose lower end portion is rotated about two mutually orthogonal axes. One of these axes X is a rotation center axis directed in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 1, and the other axis Y is a rotation center axis directed in the width direction (lateral direction) of the vehicle. The support portion 12 may have a conventionally known appropriate structure, and if an example thereof is shown in principle, a hemispherical support 13 that is convex downward is attached to a lower portion of the shift lever 11 as schematically shown in fig. 3, and the support 13 slidably contacts a spherical bracket 14 provided at a predetermined fixed portion. Therefore, the shift lever 11 is supported by the support body 13 and the bracket 14 in the vertical direction and can be tilted in any direction of 360 ° in a planar shape.

The lower end portion of the shift lever 11 is formed with a through hole 15 in the center portion of the bracket 14, through which a lower portion of the shift lever 11 is gradually inserted, and the shift lever 11 extends downward through the through hole 15 and is connected to the balance mechanism 16. The balance mechanism 16 is a structure for returning the shift lever 11 to the neutral position while holding the shift lever at the neutral position by the elastic force, and an example of a conventionally known appropriate structure can be adopted. For example, an elastic member such as a spring is disposed in the direction of two orthogonal axes with the lower end of the shift lever 11 as the center, and the shift lever 11 is held at the neutral position by the elastic force balance of these elastic members.

The shift lever 11 protrudes into the vehicle interior through a decorative plate 17 which hides the internal mechanism and is a part of the interior of the vehicle interior (not shown), and a grip 18 which is gripped by the driver is provided at an upper end portion thereof. The portion of the shift lever 11 penetrating the decorative plate 17 is hidden by a corrugated rubber boot 19 fitted into an intermediate portion of the shift lever 11.

A guide plate 20 through which the shift lever 11 passes is provided directly below the decorative plate 17. The guide plate 20 is a member for enabling a shift operation of a shift mechanism for a manual transmission to be simulated, and is formed with one selection path 21 for guiding the shift lever 11 and a plurality of shift paths 22 intersecting the selection path 21. The select path 21 and the shift path 22 are thin and long through portions or opening portions having a width approximately equal to the thickness of the shift lever 11. The example of the select path 21 and the shift path 22 shown in fig. 2 is called "H-type", and the shift path 22 bent at a right angle at one end of the select path 21 is a shift path for selecting a reverse gear, and the end is assigned to a shift position (R position) for the reverse gear.

The other 3 shift paths 22 are formed orthogonal to the select path 21 and parallel to each other, and respective end portions of these 3 shift paths 22 are assigned to the shift stages from the forward 1st speed (1 st) to the forward 6th speed (6 th). Specifically, a 1st speed (1 st), a 3rd speed (3 rd), and a 5th speed (5 th) are arranged in order from the R range side adjacent to the R range, and a 2nd speed (2 nd), a 4th speed (4 th), and a 6th speed (6 th) are arranged in order from the R range side on the opposite side with respect to the shift lines 21 therebetween. Also, the intersections of the shift paths 22 and the select paths 21 where the 3rd and 4th speeds are assigned to the respective end portions are assigned to the neutral (N) position corresponding to the initial position in the embodiment of the present invention. Further, since the guide plate 20 is fixed so that the select path 21 is oriented in the direction along the width direction of the vehicle, the shift lever 11 can be moved to each shift position along the same path as a shift lever in a vehicle mounted with a normal manual transmission.

A 2nd guide plate 23 constituting a restricting mechanism in the embodiment of the present invention is provided below the guide plate 20. The guide plate 23 is a member for limiting the range of movement of the shift lever 11 when the automatic shift mode corresponding to the 1st shift mode in the embodiment of the present invention is selected, and is formed with 1

select path

24 and 2 shift paths 25 intersecting the select path 24.

These select paths 24 and shift paths 25 are shaped to correspond to parts of the select paths 21 and shift paths 22 of the 1st guide 20 described above and are guided to determine the movement range of the shift lever 11 when the manual shift mode corresponding to the 2nd shift mode in the embodiment of the present invention is selected. Specifically, the select path 24 in the 2nd guide plate 23 has the same shape as the portion from the N position to the intersection with the shift path 22 assigned to the 5th and 6th speeds at the respective ends in the select path 21 in the 1st guide plate 20. Further, a shift path 25 having the same shape as the shift path 22 of the 1st guide plate 20 is formed to intersect with an end portion of the pick path 24 of the 2nd guide plate 23. One end of the shift path 25 is assigned to a reverse (R) gear position for reverse travel, and the other end is assigned to a drive (D) gear position for forward travel. Further, the intermediate positions of these R and D gears, i.e., the intersections of the select paths 24 and the shift paths 25, are assigned to the neutral (N) gear.

On the other hand, the shift path 25 intersecting the other end portion of the select path 24 (the end portion on the center portion side of the 2nd guide 23) has the same shape as the shift path 22 from the N position to the end portion to which the 4th speed is assigned in the 1st guide 20, and the end portion of the shift path 25 is assigned to the brake position (B) position. The intersection of the shift path 25 and the pick path 24, that is, the portion where the shift path 25 and the pick path 24 are bent at right angles, is assigned to the initial (Ba) position in the embodiment of the present invention.

The 2nd guide plate 23 is configured to move up and down with the position close to or in contact with the 1st guide plate 20 being the upper limit position and the position close to the support portion 12 being the lower limit position, such as the Ba range being located directly below the N range in the 1st guide plate 20, and the shift gate 25 to which the R range and the D range are assigned being located directly below the shift gate 22 to which the 5th and 6th shift ranges are assigned in the 1st guide plate 20, and the B range being located directly below the 4th shift range in the 1st guide plate 20.

The mechanism for moving the 2nd guide plate 23 up and down may be a mechanism having an appropriate structure as needed, and for example, a pantograph mechanism including 4 links may be provided so as to be connected to the 2nd guide plate 23, and the pantograph mechanism may be extended and contracted by an appropriate actuator or rack and pinion to move the 2nd guide plate 23 up and down. As shown in fig. 2, a mechanism for converting horizontal movement into elevating operation can be used.

Specifically, in describing this mechanism, a pair of support plates 26 parallel to the shift path 25 are arranged in a standing state on both sides of the 2nd guide plate 23, and guide holes 27 inclined with respect to the ascending/descending direction (vertical direction) are formed in these support plates 26. The guide holes 27 are long holes, and a plurality of (2 in fig. 2) guide holes are formed in parallel with each other in the left and right support plates 26. The inclination direction is a direction in which the B range side becomes higher and the Ba range side becomes lower when the shift path 25 between the Ba range and the B range is described as a reference. Pins 28 slidably inserted into these guide holes 27 are provided on both right and left sides of the 2nd guide plate 23.

The 2nd guide plate 23 is held so as to move only in the vertical direction, and the left and right support plates 26 are held so as to move back and forth only in the horizontal direction (the direction in which the shift path 25 extends) by an appropriate actuator 29. Therefore, when the support plate 26 is moved in the horizontal direction by the actuator 29, the pin 28 slides inside the guide hole 27, so that the pin 28, i.e., the 2nd guide plate 23, moves up and down in accordance with the inclination of the guide hole 27.

In addition, in a state where the 2nd guide 23 is lowered to the lower limit position, the shift lever 11 is moved along the select path 21 and the shift path 22 in the 1st guide 20. Therefore, in order to make such an operation possible, it is preferable that the 2nd guide 23 is formed as close to the support portion 12 as possible and the select path 24 and the shift path 25 are formed slightly larger than the outer diameter of the shift lever 11.

A shift position detector 30 that detects a shift position selected by moving the shift lever 11 is provided. The shift position detector 30 may be a component having a structure adopted in a conventional hybrid vehicle, and for example, may be configured to detect the movement of the shift lever 11 in the direction along the selection paths 21 and 24 (lateral direction) by a selection sensor such as an MR-IC, detect the movement of the shift lever 11 in the direction along the shift paths 22 and 25 (longitudinal direction) by a shift sensor such as a hall element, and detect a shift position by a combination of a lateral detection signal and a longitudinal detection signal. Further, since the shift position is detected for each of the automatic shift mode and the manual shift mode, the shift position is determined in accordance with each shift mode even if the positions of the

guides

20 and 23 are the same. For example, in the manual shift mode, the gear position of the 5th speed is determined, and in the automatic shift mode, the gear position of the R speed is determined, and similarly, in the manual shift mode, the gear position of the 6th speed is determined, and in the automatic shift mode, the gear position of the D speed is determined.

When the shift position is selected by the operation of the shift lever 11 along the 1st guide plate 20, a so-called detent function can be provided to sense the shift position of the shift lever 11 and to hold the shift lever 11 in the shift position. Conventionally, a shift device for an automatic transmission is provided with a stopper mechanism, but since the shift device is configured to reciprocate a shift lever in one direction, the stopper mechanism also acts on the movement in one direction. If such a detent mechanism is provided in two orthogonal axial directions, a detent function for the shift lever 11 can be provided. Alternatively, as shown in fig. 4, for example, a protrusion 31 is provided near the end of the shift path 25 so as to narrow the width of the shift path 25, and an elastic force is applied to the protrusion 31 to protrude into the shift path 25. When the shift lever 11 passes over the projection 31, a reaction force against the operation force of the shift lever 11 is temporarily generated, and therefore, the shift operation can be perceived by the change in the operation force. The projection 31 blocks the shift lever 11 to a predetermined shift position which is an end portion of the shift path 25, and thus the shift position can be maintained.

In the shift device 9, the

select passages

21, 24 and the

shift passages

22, 25 are hidden from view under the decorative panel 17, and therefore, the state of the shift operation such as the shift position cannot be seen. Even if the positions of the shift lever 11 in the

select paths

21, 24 and the

shift paths

22, 25 are configured to be visible by any chance, the meaning of the shift position differs between the automatic shift mode and the manual shift mode, and therefore it is difficult to immediately recognize the shift position from the position of the shift lever 11 in the

shift paths

22, 25. The display 10 attached to the shifting apparatus 9 is a device for eliminating such inconvenience, and is configured to display the

select paths

21 and 24, the

shift paths

22 and 25, and the shift positions or the shift stages according to the shift modes.

The display 10 is controlled by the controller 6 described above. That is, the detection signal of the shift position detector 30 is input to the controller 6, and the controller 6 determines the selected shift position based on the input signal and displays the shift position on the display 10. Therefore, the display 10 is a color display using liquid crystal, and can display arbitrary graphics, patterns, characters, and the like in arbitrary colors, change the brightness or luminance thereof, and appropriately turn on, off, and blink. The display 10 is provided in association with a gear shift lever 11 as part of the gear shift device 9. Specifically, the display 10 is provided on the top surface of the knob 18, which is the upper end portion of the shift lever 11, or in the vicinity of the shift lever 11 (for example, a predetermined portion of the surface of the decorative plate 17).

Fig. 5 (a) and (B) show an example of display contents. Fig. 5 a shows the content of the 1st display in the case where the automatic shift mode is selected, the display as a whole being circular in shape, having a point indicating the Ba position (hereinafter, temporarily denoted by Ba) at the center portion thereof, and shown as a graph 32 from here along arrows extending in the direction of the selection path 24 and the shift paths 25 in the 2nd guide 23. Further, at the tip end portion of each arrow, a letter indicating each of the D-, R-, N-, and B-ranges is displayed. The graphics 32 and the parts other than the letters are the background 33, and the background color may be a single color or may be added with an appropriate background pattern.

Fig. 5 (B) shows the content of the 2nd display in the case where the manual shift mode is selected, the display as a whole has a circular shape, and inside the circle, the outline (line drawing) of the select path 21 and the shift path 22 in the 1st guide plate 20 is displayed as the graph 34. At the tip end of the line corresponding to each shift path 22, symbols "R" and "1" to "6" indicating the shift positions corresponding to the shift paths are displayed. Then, the position of the N position is displayed by a conspicuous point (hereinafter, denoted by the temporary symbol N). The part other than the graphic 34 and the symbol is a background 35, and the background color of the background 35 may be a single color or may be an appropriate background pattern as in the background 33 in the display for the automatic shift mode. The shapes and colors shown in (a) and (B) of fig. 5 are stored in the controller 6 as image data.

The automatic shift mode and the manual shift mode can be switched and selected by operating the mode changeover switch 7 schematically shown in fig. 1, and when the automatic shift mode is selected, the display shown in fig. 5 (a) is displayed on the display 10. In addition, the 2nd guide 23 is raised, and the range in which the shift lever 11 can be moved is limited to a range determined by the select path 24 and the shift path 25 formed in the guide 23. When the manual shift mode is selected, the display shown in fig. 5 (B) is displayed on the display 10. In addition, the 2nd guide plate 23 is lowered to the vicinity of the support portion 12 that supports the shift lever 11 so as to be able to deflect (or rotate), and therefore, the restriction of the movement (movement) of the shift lever 11 by the 2nd guide plate 23 is released. Therefore, it is possible to recognize whether the shift mode selected and set at this point in time is the automatic shift mode or the manual shift mode by the

graphics

32 and 34 displayed on the display 10. In addition, the color and pattern of the

backgrounds

33, 35 are made different between the automatic shift mode and the manual shift mode. This can be performed by image processing using the controller 6 described above, whereby the shift mode can be easily visually recognized. In addition, in a part of the

backgrounds

33 and 35, a character display such as "a" or "Auto" indicating the automatic shift mode and a character display such as "M" or "Manu" indicating the manual shift mode can be performed. These means or functions for visually recognizing the shift mode are equivalent to the mode display function or the mode display means in the embodiment of the present invention.

The position of the shift lever 11 can be detected by a combination of the detection signal detected by the select sensor and the detection signal detected by the shift sensor as described above, and can be displayed on the display 10. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the circle marks shown in fig. 5 (a) and (B) can be moved on the

respective patterns

32 and 35 in conjunction with moving the shift lever 11. Characters such as letters and numerals indicating the gear position reached by the circle mark, that is, the gear position or gear position selected by manual operation are highlighted. The highlight display may be a display under bold characters, a display in which characters are enclosed by a colored frame (circle, rectangle, or the like) as shown in fig. 5 (B) for "1", a display in which other characters are blurred or a screen line is added to make them relatively clear, a display in which the size or font of characters is different from that of other characters, or the like.

Further, the display 10 may be configured to perform a unique display in the manual shift mode. That is, in the manual shift mode, the gear ratio (or the gear position, hereinafter, collectively referred to as the gear position) is selected basically according to the intention of the driver, but the gear position suitable for the actual running state of the vehicle 1 exists independently of the intention of the driver. That is, in the design of the vehicle, a preferable gear position is set in advance as a traveling state in which a predetermined acceleration characteristic is obtained and energy characteristics such as fuel efficiency are excellent. The gear position can be prepared in advance as a two-dimensional map having, for example, the accelerator opening degree and the vehicle speed as variables. If the gear position determined from the map is different from the gear position selected and set by the gear shift device 9, a shift notification means or a shift notification function can be provided that notifies a notification display of the shift to the gear position determined from the map. Specifically, characters indicating the gear position determined from the map and the like as a preferable gear position to be set are displayed on the display 10, or characters (numerals) indicating the gear position of the gear position are displayed on the display in a highlighted manner. In addition, since the shift-up means or the shift-up notification function normally performs the shift-up operation with an increase in vehicle speed during acceleration and performs the shift-down operation with a decrease in vehicle speed during deceleration, the shift-up or shift-down operation may be notified instead of displaying a gear stage to be set, such as a character for highlighting the gear stage. For example, the color and pattern of the background 35 may be changed in accordance with an instruction to upshift or downshift, or the blinking speed may be displayed in association with an upshift or downshift.

In this way, when a shift is recommended in the manual shift mode, the determination is made by comparing the gear position determined from the map with the current gear position. Therefore, in this case, since the running characteristic of the vehicle 1 is determined by the map, a plurality of maps having different upshift timings or data corresponding to the maps are prepared in advance as the map, and the running characteristic of the vehicle 1 can be changed by switching the map used for determining the gear position. An example of the running characteristic is a sport mode in which the vehicle runs with a large driving force by setting an upshift line to a high vehicle speed side and delaying an upshift from an increase in vehicle speed, and an economy mode. In contrast, the economy mode is a mode in which the upshift line is set to the low vehicle speed side, the upshift is generated relatively early, and the engine speed is suppressed to be low, and as a result, the fuel efficiency or the energy efficiency is improved.

Therefore, in these traveling modes, the timing of the shift for a change in the vehicle speed, the accelerator pedal position, and the like is different, and therefore when the shift is to be notified, it is preferable to notify the driver of which traveling mode the shift is to be notified. That is, the display 10 may be configured to make timing of flashing different between the eco mode corresponding to the 1st travel mode and the sport mode corresponding to the 2nd travel mode in the embodiment of the present invention when a flashing notice shift is made by some kind of indication.

In the above, an example of the embodiment of the present invention has been described, but the present invention can be configured differently from the above-described embodiment, and for example, the restricting mechanism of the present invention may be configured such that a member similar to a shutter for restricting the entry of the shift lever into the predetermined shift path and the movement of the shift lever to the predetermined portion of the shift path is provided in the shift path and the select path, in addition to the configuration in which the 2nd guide covers the predetermined shift path and a part of the select path in the 1st guide.

Claims

1. A shift operation device for a vehicle is provided with:

an initial gear; a plurality of shift gears; an operating lever movable to the initial gear position and the shift gear position; a shift path that is provided corresponding to a plurality of the shift stages and guides the operating lever to the shift stages; and at least one selection path that reaches each of the shift paths from the initial gear position and guides the operating lever to the shift path, characterized in that,

the vehicle is configured to be capable of selecting a 1st shift mode and a 2nd shift mode that are different from each other in the manner of controlling the driving force for running,

the vehicle transmission operating device includes a restricting mechanism that restricts entry of the operating lever from the select path to any shift path of the plurality of shift paths and the shift range corresponding to the any shift path when the 1st shift mode is selected, and that releases the restriction when the 2nd shift mode is selected,

the vehicle gear shift operation device further includes a display that selectively displays a 1st display and a 2nd display in accordance with the selected 1st gear shift mode and the 2nd gear shift mode, the 1st display graphically displaying the initial gear position and the gear shift position and the select path of the operation lever that are movable when the 1st gear shift mode is selected and the restriction is performed by the restriction mechanism, and the 2nd display graphically displaying the initial gear position and the gear shift position and the select path and the gear shift path of the operation lever that are movable when the 2nd gear shift mode is selected and the restriction is released by the restriction mechanism.

2. The shift operating device of a vehicle according to claim 1,

the selection path, the shift path, the initial gear, and the shift speed that can move the operation lever in the 1st shift mode are portions of the selection path, the shift path, the initial gear, and the shift speed that can move the operation lever in the 2nd shift mode.

3. The shift operating device of a vehicle according to claim 1 or 2,

the display has a mode display function of displaying the selected 1st shift mode or the 2nd shift mode.

4. The shift operating device of a vehicle according to claim 3,

the mode display function is any one of a function of displaying a selected shift mode in characters, a function of changing a background color of the graphic to a color corresponding to the selected shift mode, and a function of changing a background pattern of the graphic to a pattern corresponding to the selected shift mode.

5. The shift operating device of a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the display has a function of highlighting the gear position selected by moving the operating lever on the graph.

6. The shift operating device of a vehicle according to claim 5,

the display is provided with a letter representing the gear position,

the highlighted function is a function of displaying the character indicating the shift position selected by moving the operation lever, in a manner different from the other characters.

7. The shift operating device of a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 6,

the 2nd shift mode is configured to be able to select a plurality of the shift stages for forward running,

the display device includes a shift prompting function that prompts switching of the shift range in accordance with a change in a driving state of the vehicle when the 2nd shift mode is selected.

8. The shift operating device of a vehicle according to claim 7,

the shift prompt function is any of lighting of a predetermined prompt display, a background color or a background pattern of the graphic, or flickering of a display indicating the shift position to be selected.

9. The shift operating device of a vehicle according to claim 7 or 8,

the vehicle is configured to be able to select a 1st running mode in which a predetermined upshift is determined at a predetermined vehicle speed and a 2nd running mode in which the upshift is determined at a vehicle speed higher than the predetermined vehicle speed in a state in which the 2nd shift mode is selected,

the vehicle gear shift operation device is configured to make timing of the blinking of the display different between a case where the 1st travel mode is selected and a case where the 2nd travel mode is selected.